For the first time since March, the Mega Millions has a jackpot winner after a single ticket sold during the drawing on Tuesday (July 28) claimed the estimated annuitized prize of $800 million.
A statement from Mega Millions disclosed that the ticket purchased through the Florida Lottery successfully matched last night’s winning numbers: 34, 48, 49, 59, 70, plus the gold Mega Ball 12. The chances of matching all six numbers stand at approximately one in over 292.2 million.
Although the Mega Millions jackpot from July 28 ranks as the 10th largest ever, it is significantly less than the game’s highest-ever payout, which exceeded $1.6 billion and occurred nearly three years ago on August 8, 2023, also in Florida.
Across the 38 drawings that led to the $800 million jackpot, Mega Millions reported nearly 10.9 million winning tickets sold, along with total non-jackpot prizes amounting to over $273 million. This included 18 second-tier prizes ranging from $2 million to $5 million, distributed among 10 different states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Understanding Mega Millions Tax Implications
The winner from last night’s Mega Millions drawing will not actually take home the full $800 million paid out over 29 years or the one-time cash option of $344.2 million, as both amounts are assessed before federal taxes. Adding to the winner’s fortune is Florida’s status as one of the nine states that do not tax lottery earnings, benefiting from the absence of a state income tax.
If the winner opts for the annuity, which includes an immediate payment followed by 29 annual installments, the total prize would convert to roughly $505.3 million after accounting for a 37% federal tax. Opting for the cash payout would drop the amount from $344.2 million to approximately $216.8 million.
The victor will significantly benefit from Florida’s no state income tax policy. For perspective, a winner in New York, which imposes the highest state income tax on lottery winnings at 10.9%, would see the annuitized amount diminished to $418.1 million and the cash option down to $179.3 million.
Significant Wins in New York and Illinois
Additionally, last night’s drawing resulted in two tickets matching all five white balls but missing the gold Mega Ball for second-tier prizes. One ticket from Illinois utilized the 3x Multiplier, elevating the prize to $3 million, while a ticket from New York leveraged the 5x Multiplier, boosting the payout to $5 million.
In total, 645,994 tickets were winners last night, with 526,019 of those winning $21 or less.
This Mega Millions jackpot marks the third time this year that a jackpot has been won, following wins on March 10 ($536 million, ticket sold in Illinois) and March 17 ($60 million, ticket sold in Ohio).